By Launa Johnson
In late August, a community member reached out to Bastrop C.A.T.S. for help with a tiny, injured kitten found hiding under an ice machine at the Red Rock General Store. One of our fabulous volunteers jumped into action and picked the kitten up.
The little male kitten was unable to use his back legs, so he was taken straight to the vet for medical care. The vet found that his right leg was dislocated at the hip socket and the leg was also broken at the “knee.”
Baby Kitten was determined to be about 5 weeks old and, in spite of his injuries, was a real “lovie,” which made a perfect name for this precious little boy!
Lovie had surgery the next day to have his hip put back into socket and had his little leg splinted. Surgery went well, so off to foster care he went!
At his temporary new home, Lovie couldn’t be held back from playing. “Play, play, play!” was his mantra. Even with his splinted leg, he was so playful. He was confined to a small kennel in an attempt to restrict his movement and allow his leg to heal, but he was just too full of energy. Just a few days later, Lovie re-broke his splinted leg while chasing his tail.
At this point, an amputation of his rear leg was required. His amputation surgery went well; however, post surgery, he got a bad infection. The closure abscessed and broke through the sutures.
Lovie still was very playful and continued to chase his tail for entertainment. While chasing his tail he would land on the wounded area, and, unfortunately, his foster was unable to keep him from further damaging his sutured area. His wound kept getting bigger.
Finally, Lovie was put into a “cone of shame” and underwent hydrotherapy daily with another foster who specializes in medical care cases. After a few weeks of daily hydrotherapy and additional antibiotics, Lovie was healed enough to be neutered, given vaccines, and made available for adoption!
Lovie was promptly adopted by a mom that already had a tripod kitty that Bastrop C.A.T.S. had helped last year. His new name is Floki, a strong Viking name for this resilient, playful boy! He and his new sister are getting along famously. Happy Tails!
